Ana Luisa
Abby Williams
Whenever I scroll through Instagram, I commonly see the brand Ana Luisa pop up on my feed. As with most of the advertisements I see on Instagram, I pass them by, thinking they are just another fast fashion company looking to make a dollar. But after a recent investigation into the brand, I was intrigued by their transparency and commitment to sustainability. While they have a considerable amount of information on their website about their sustainability practices, I don't believe they have done enough to be considered a sustainable leader in their industry just yet. Nonetheless, because of the efforts they've made so far, Ana Luisa is taking when it comes to sustainability compared to other brands when I look to shop for new jewelry, it will be one of the shops I turn to.
Ana Luisa's products consist of jewelry including necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets. Silver products are made from 100% recycled sterling silver made of 92.5% pure silver. Gold products are made from gold-plated brass, but it's not stated whether this material is recycled or if it is sourced sustainably. Products with diamonds use diamonds that are grown in the lab, which are identical to diamonds mined without the destructive environmental impact that mining diamonds imposes. For their materials, Ana Luisa has a glossary of what country the materials are sourced from. According to this glossary, most of their materials (metals, plating solutions, natural and synthetic stones) but do not include more detail than that, so it's hard to discern exactly how sustainable these materials are just based on their country of origin. Although this is the case, I have to applaud Ana Luisa for beginning to provide transparency on the type of materials they use in their products, as most companies don't present information like this at all. For Ana Luisa to continue their sustainability efforts, I think they should disclose more than where their materials are sourced from, including information on if the materials are mined or how they are processed.
Ana Luisa's products are manufactured by their partners who are held to Ana Luisa's Code of Conduct and values. While the manufacturing sites are regularly audited by third parties, there is minimal information on where the consumer can find those audits. The website does include some of their factory sites, including information on the number of employees at the factories, working hours, benefits, etc., which is important to display if the company wants to be considered transparent and sustainable. There also isn't anywhere where the consumer can view the Code of Conduct, but Ana Luisa deemed it would be published soon. These shortcomings are why I have rated Ana Luisa down in this category, as it is one thing to say that these factories are abiding by certain rules, but another thing to show that they are. Ana Luisa is still publishing more information about how their products are made compared to other companies which are why I've given them a 1 in this category.
Ana Luisa is committed to sustainability within its brand, making it stand out sustainability-wise amongst competitors. One of the main components of Ana Luisa's sustainability efforts is that they are carbon neutral. This is possible for Ana Luisa by carbon offsetting, where they partner with the Nonprofit Cool Effect to preserve forests from conservation projects. Ana Luisa also publishes their carbon footprint assessment which includes that their cradle-to-grave emissions have been 100% offset for 2020. Ana Luisa is also working on creating a Water footprint to determine their water usage, and using recyclable packaging to reduce excess waste. While the company has taken strides to become more sustainable, some of the information on these practices were deemed as "coming soon" which means that they still have work to be done to create a more sustainable business. Because of this, I think that Ana Luisa still has some substantial steps to take before they become a sustainable leader in the jewelry industry, but they are well on their way there.
https://www.analuisa.com/pages/sustainability
https://www.analuisa.com/pages/how-we-make
https://www.analuisa.com/pages/about
https://www.livescale.tv/ana-luisa-case-study/
https://aumbryy.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/is-ana-luisa-greenwashing-a-deep-convo-about-ethical-jewelry/
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2579/7674/t/109/assets/ana-luisa-carbon-footprint-methodology.pdf?v=2702336735753524789
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2579/7674/t/109/assets/cool-effect.pdf?v=6349410590675374966